Improvement in children s carriages



2 Sheets--ShetL W.H.TOWERS. 0hildrens,Garriages.

' Patented Oct.

No.144J66.

UN TED STATES 'WILLIAM H. TOWERS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CHILDRENS CARRIAGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 144,166, dated October 28, 1873; application filed September 30, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WM. H. TowERs, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Childrens Combined Carriage and Sled and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to make a childs carriage that can be turned without raising either end to do so, and also to so construct the driving-gear that it can be easily converted into sled-rimners. The nature of my invention consists in constructing the driving-gear of the carriage so that, by detaching it from the carriage and adding a few braces, it can be used as runners for a sled; and consists, further, in so attaching the driving-gear to the carriage that the carriage can be turned to the right or left with greater facility than it can be now done and it consists, further, in constructing the carriage and in converting it into a sled, as shall be hereinafter more fully springs to prevent it from slipping backward or forward, and is secured to the pole b by a screw-bolt, to, having a nut or thumb-screw, orby other sultable means. One of the springs is attached to the movable axle G by a kingbolt, or any other device that will allow it to turn, and the bolt that holds the spring and axle together also holds one end of the pole in position. The levers or driving -shafts B of the carriage are made in the shape of sledrunners-that is, with one end turned upward-and pass through slots or staples,a little larger in sizethan the diameter of the levers, at a suitable distance from each other, on the under side of the stationary axle D, and are joined to the movable axle (J by being slotted or pivoted to it, or by other suitable means. The two raised ends of the levers or drivingshafts B are connected with each other by a cross-bar, d, which is pivoted to each of the two levers by a swivel pin or screw, so that it will be loose to allow either one of the levers to be pushed forward or pulled backward, as desired. The wheels are attached to the axles in the ordinary way.

If it is desired to have the childs back to the operator, the front of the carriage-body is made to rest on the movable spring, which is on the movable axle, being prevented from slipping forward or backward by the crosspieces, and held to the pole by the bolt d, as before stated, and when it is desired to turn the carriage to the right it is only necessary to pull the lever on the right toward you, or push the lever on the left from you, when the forward wheel 011 the right of the carriage is drawn in toward the carriage-body, and the wheel on the left forced out from the body. It will be observed that as one lever moves in one direction the other moves in the opposite direction; and this is necessarily the case, because, as before stated, these leversiare joined to the movable axle, and as one end of the axle, in turning an angle, is in advance of the other, so must its lever be in advance of the other lever. When it is desired to turn the carriage to the left, the movement is the reverse of that just mentioned.

If it is desired to have the child facing the attendant, it is only necessary to loosen the bolt that fastens the body of the carriage to the pole, raise the body until it is free of the wheels, and turn it around, and fasten as before. After this change has been made, the operation of turning the carriage around an angle is substantially the same as before men tioned, the difference being that the wheels that were before in the front of the carriage are now in the rear.

If it is wished to convert the carriage into a sled, all that has to be done is to remove the the runners) l3. Arms 11, of an y desirable form, are bolted, screwed, or otherwise attached to the body, which is secured in any safe manner to the braces g of the runners B.

I have overcome the inconvenience and danger of tilting a childs carriage when it becomes necessary to turn an angle, since, by my invention, it is only necessary to draw toward you one of two levers, which take the place of the present handles in carriages, and the wheels are in a proper position to carry the carriage safely and conveniently around the ngle.

The simple construction of the improvements invented by me places within the reach of all persons a carriage that can be converted in a short time into a sled, and, by reason of the simplicity of the parts of the childs combined carriage and sled, it can be manufactm'ed at a small cost.

I do not claim a reversible body and detachable handles, as these are known; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent, is

1. The guiding and driving shafts 13, formed in the shape of sledrunners, and attached at one end to the movable axle O, and having a bar, (I, pivoted to their ends, so as to allow one of the shafts to be pushed forward and the other drawn back, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The shafts B, connected by a bar, and adapted to be used as the driving and guiding shafts of a carriage, or as runners for a sled, as set forth.

3. The guiding and propelling shafts B, in the form of sled-runners, with a loose connec tion with one axle and a fixed connection with the other, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The braces g and handle H, of the form shown, combined with the body A and levers B, to convert the carriage into a sleigh, as set forth.

5. The carriage formed by combining the removable and reversible body A with the pole b, guiding-levers B, and running-gear, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of September, 1873.

WM. H. TOWERS.

\Vitnesses G. G. CARROLL, J. G. H. CUNNINGHAM. 

